Ongoing engagement with residents and businesses through the development of this and wider strategies has identified consistent barriers and enablers to taking action on reaching net zero carbon.
Barrier themes explored through engagement were:
It’s not my house. What could I do?
We just get, ‘that’s a you problem not a me problem’.
We’re in a cost-of-living crisis.
They want us to get these new boilers for 5 grand. It’s not going to happen.
I couldn’t do Veganuary, unless I didn’t eat until February.
When they mention a wind turbine on the mountain it gets the community riled up
They’ll think I’m going to drive to Cardiff for nuts in a paper bag.
I like what I like, I drive what I drive, I eat what I eat.
All I hear is that the buses are unreliable.
I remember when all they told you was get gas central heating put in.
My neighbour got solar. By the time I afford it, there’ll be something else along.
Engagement identified that residents and businesses view the public sector as key in enabling them to take action:
A one-stop shop, where I go, and I trust the advice and who can install this for me
They need to actively listen to my concerns: no shame in setbacks.
I said ‘look, I’m not very good at this am I doing this right?’ she went through what I put in. (the bid): had a long chat… It made all the difference.
Alongside the ask for formalised enablers through the public sector, residents and businesses have a sense of personal responsibility, moral duty and opportunity:
I said to my Grandson, I want to know you will grow up in a better, cleaner world. That bothers me.
We have people who ring us up, saying ‘I like what you are doing and why you are doing it, reusing things’ and it feels like they want us to be a supplier because of that
Our business ideas, they are a risk, but if we stopped because of that, we couldn’t stay ahead of customer needs
We identified nine cross-cutting themes which set our objectives. Mitigating climate change necessitates behaviour change and this requires a mindset shift.
Responsible – We need to enable residents and businesses to understand how their daily decisions impact climate change.
Recruited – We need to engage everyone in recognising shared responsibility and commitment to the solution.
Informed – We need to provide clear information on how to effectively reduce emissions.
Enabled – We need to eliminate obstacles that hinder adoption of sustainable practices.
Resourced – We need to ensure residents and businesses can access necessary tools and resources to facilitate change.
Understood – We need to gain insights into the reasons behind people’s behaviours to better support change.
Healthy – We will promote actions that align with healthy and sustainable values.
Equal – We will ensure actions prioritise the needs of those most affected by climate change.
Coherent – We will coordinate actions to be efficient, less wasteful, and easy to implement.
These are linked to the goals of the Well-being of Future Generations Act. The seven well-being goals show the kind of Wales we want to see. Together they provide a shared vision for the public sector to work towards. The Act makes it clear the public sector must work to achieve all the goals, not just one or two.
An innovative, productive and low carbon society which takes account of the limits of the global environment and therefore uses resources efficiently to act on climate change; and which develops a skilled, well-educated population, working in an economy which generates wealth and provides employment opportunities, allowing people to take advantage of wealth generated by being employed in fair work. Our consultation suggested that lack of resource is a barrier to residents and businesses achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
A nation which maintains and enhances a biodiverse natural environment with healthy ecosystems that support social, economic and ecological resilience and the capacity to adapt to climate change.
A society in which people’s physical and mental well-being is maximised, where behaviours that benefit future health are understood.
A society that enables people to fulfil their potential no matter what their background or circumstances.
Attractive, viable, safe and well-connected communities.
A society that promotes and protects culture, heritage and the Welsh language, and which encourages people to participate in the arts, and sports and recreation.
When doing anything to improve the economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being of Wales, we take account of whether doing such a thing may make a positive contribution to global well-being.
This is achieved through:
Acting in collaboration with other people and organisations to help meet objectives.
Considering how the objectives impact on the well-being goals, on other objectives, or the objectives of other public bodies.
The importance of involving people with an interest in achieving goals, ensuring that people reflect the diversity of the area served.
The importance of balancing short-term needs with safeguarding longer-term needs.
How acting to prevent problems occurring or getting worse help us meet our objectives.
Digital innovation will continue to influence the areas discussed within the following chapters. Digital solutions can offer promising pathways to sustainability.
Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, and achieving net zero is one of the principal tools we have in tackling it.
Energy: Digital technologies have a crucial role in transforming energy systems. By enabling smarter energy management and integrating renewable sources, we can reduce carbon emissions. The strategic implementation of smart energy management systems, integration of renewables and predictive maintenance will be reducing carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency and resilience.
Travel & Transport: Telematics data and optimisation supports the reduction of emissions from transport by improving the efficiency of journeys and reducing mileage. Strategically digital solutions support the development of transport infrastructure and facilitates the improved uptake of private or fleet vehicle technology alongside increased use of public transport.
Buildings: Smart Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) allow for real-time monitoring and optimisation of energy use, contributing to lower emissions. Strategically, the focus will be on leveraging these innovations to enhance the sustainability of both new and existing structures.
Organisations and businesses: Digital transformation offers opportunities for organisations to meet sustainability goals. Cloud computing, digital supply-chain management, and data analytics will drive efficiency and transparency, reducing waste and emissions. Strategically, organisations will need to balance the benefits of digital technologies with their potential carbon costs.
In the UK there is £3 trillion invested, in either things which help the planet, or which destroy it.
Agriculture: Precision farming, powered by digital technologies, will be vital for sustainable agriculture. Innovations will enable data-driven decision-making to optimise resource use and reduce emissions. The strategic focus will be on integrating these technologies to enhance productivity while minimising environmental impact.
Waste management and a culture of not owning: Digital offers will increasingly reduce the need to own certain objects. Paper-based solutions and music have migrated to most purchases being digital. Digital solutions can enhance waste management by improving tracking, sorting, and recycling processes to improve efficiency, contribute to the and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the management and handling of waste.
The strategic integration of digital technologies across these sectors is essential. However, it is important to recognise that digital solutions and technologies have their own negative impacts and do not serve as a silver bullet for achieving net zero. Increases in digital technologies brings with it additional complexities in the reuse, recycling and disposal of digital components with the potential to counteract some greenhouse gas reductions. Every digital action has an emissions footprint; every website click, email attachment and download. AI and other technologies can carry a higher carbon cost compared to previous technologies due to their significant energy, water and cooling requirements. Upstream emissions for the manufacture of components are significant and there are wider negative environmental and societal impacts associated with raw material extraction supply chains.
The objectives behind strategic integration and adoption of digital technologies in achieving net zero by 2050 are:
You helped me realise that the Cloud is not a bin; it’s all got a carbon cost.
Our public consultation has highlighted the importance of a lifelong learning approach to helping residents and businesses understand and reduce their emissions, tackling misinformation and influencing others by what we do at home and in the workplace. This theme is woven throughout the chapters of this document but will require specific dedicated resource and attention.
We all have a part to play in reaching that goal – and children today will become the adults of tomorrow, the people who will be putting these plans into action.
As such, education around net zero: demystifying the concept and empowering children to see their own role in this challenge is of vital importance. We can tackle this, if we face our future together.
Education is strategically important as a driver for behaviour change and as a facilitator in the development of innovation and the necessary supply chains to deliver net zero. Continual understanding of skills and educational needs will be pertinent in ensuring a well-informed population that is able to achieve net zero.
Soft Skills: Carbon Literacy is fundamental to equipping residents and businesses with understanding of greenhouse gases, the processes which cause them, the effects these gases have on our climate locally, nationally and globally and how to take action to reduce their emissions impacts at home, at work and within the community.
To achieve this, strategically, it is integral that decarbonisation is embedded into all aspects of our education and not limited to certain subject areas such as geography and science, but needs to cut across the whole curriculum and influence eg the arts.
Technical Skills: In the delivery of net zero across Energy, Buildings, Travel & Transport, Organisations, Land Use, and Waste there is a demand for technical skills to support the implementation of associated actions. Strategic investment in the continued development of learning and innovation will enable the expansion of a skilled workforce, addressing the net zero skills gap and sustaining and supply chains within Caerphilly County Borough.
Educational Institutions: Across all levels of educational institution there is a requirement to provide equitable access to the education needed to achieve net zero. This education needs to be flexible to stay relevant to ongoing technological advances and scientific understanding. Strategically, educational institutions need to be closely connected to industry to incorporate innovation as well as develop career pathways.
We want to say to people, businesses, the government, look, we have a mega-weapon in our back pocket.
For residents and businesses across the County Borough, we also have a financial carbon footprint. Our bank accounts can be with providers who invest in fossil fuels. Our pensions carry a significant footprint, and research indicates that just the average personal pension can be responsible for as many emissions as 4 flights to Madrid per year. If we care about our travel and dietary footprints, this is also an area for consideration. In chapter 4 of this Strategy, we will look at organisational footprints and the need to be mindful of the power of our financial decisions in the workplace as a driver towards net zero.
Whilst certain behaviour changes are more tangible or visible locally, such as the purchase of an electric vehicle or the installation of a heat pump, decisions we make on our investments and pensions can be more global in nature.
We did research that said changing your pension provider can be 21 times better than stopping flying, becoming vegan, or changing electricity provider.
Divestment is not just a means of reducing emissions by using the power of the pound to reduce the extraction of fossil fuels, but concurrently an opportunity to have a double effect by instead investing in funds for example supporting green technology or greenhouse gas removals.
The thing that hit me sideways was that everyone who’s got money in a bank, in a pension, can be a major contributor to, or solution for, climate change.
